A total of 33 boys and girls, born in 2000 and 2001, are in attendance at the Arab Hopes Week and Challenge at the Maadi Olympic Centre in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo.

Proceedings commenced on Sunday 21st April and conclude on Friday 26th April 2013.

An intense schedule, the first four days were allocated to a Training Camp under the direction of Sweden’s Peter Karlsson, the final two days see a tournament take place.

Players from the African countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are present; whilst from Asia, there are representatives from Lebanon, Jordan and Yemen.

The schedule follows a similar Hopes week conducted earlier in month by Emanuel Christiansson, also from Sweden, for Egyptian players.

Perfect Facilities
“The Olympic Centre where the Camp was held was perfect”, said Peter Karlsson. “The gym, accommodation and restaurant were all within a few minutes walking distance of each other.”

Equally, Peter Karlsson was enthused with the players under his charge.

“I was impressed with the level of the players here on the Hopes Camp”, he added. “They showed a great fighting spirit and were eager to improve.”

Message from Peter Karlsson
Furthermore, he had a message for the players.

“I would like to give a message to all the young players who are here and also to their coaches and parents”, he continued. “See the ITTF Hopes week as a fantastic opportunity to gain new experiences and to meet and play against many new players.”

ITTF Hopes Week
A tremendous opportunity and there is intense competition to be selected to attend the ITTF Hopes Week and Challenge which will be staged at the Werner Schlager Academy in Vienna from Monday 10th to Sunday 16th June 2013.

Maintain the Energy
“As only one boy and one girl can be selected from each country there will be many good players who are not going to Vienna in June”, added Peter Karlsson. “To all of you: keep up the energy and I’m sure the future looks bright for all of you, many more tournaments and training camps will come into your career, good luck to all of you.”

High Praise for Coaches
Credit to the players and Peter Karlsson also paid credit to the coaches.
“I also have to give credit to the coaches who are working very actively and with a great deal of passion and energy; this helps the young players a lot!” stressed Peter Karlsson. “I hope that the result for Egypt in Guangzhou will give a boost for table tennis in Africa and that we will see long term planning for the talented players who are here; Africa has great future potential.”

At the Times Property World Team Classic in Guangzhou in late March, the Egyptian Men’s Team excelled by winning the bronze medal.

Vote of Thanks
“Finally I want to thank Khaled El-Salhy and Ahmed El-Dawlatly for making my visit in Cairo enjoyable and giving me a lot of good memories”, concluded Peter Karlsson.
Certainly the efforts of Khaled El-Salhy and Ahmed El-Dawlatly had proved most worthwhile.

Two Successful Hopes Training Camps
"It is a pleasure for me to have witnessed such a successful Egypt Hopes Week followed by an Africa-Arab Hopes Week”, said Khaled El-Salhy, “This is for sure due to the great help of ITTF Education and Training Department and the ITTF Development Department, who assigned top professional experts to lead the courses, Emanuel Christiansen for the first course, Peter Karlsson for the second.

Grateful for Support
It was a noble effort by Khaled El-Salhy to make the project a success and he was grateful for the support received.

"My thanks to the Egyptian Table Tennis Association for their support in providing the renovated Olympic Centre in Maadi with all requirements for a very successful Training Camp”, he continued. “Also, my thanks to all the participating Hopes players from the African and Arab Associations.

High Standard
A delighted President and also it was a very impressed President.

"The standard of so many players is very good for this age category and also the strength of their national coaches is remarkable”, added Khaled El-Salhy, prior the tournament taking place. “Now we are starting the Challenge to qualify for ITTF Hopes Scholarship to attend the Werner Schlager Academy in June, best of luck to all players".

Pleased Development Officer
A most satisfied coach, a most pleased President and there was also a more than content Development Officer.

“It’s a great pleasure to participate in this special event, held for the first year on continental basis in Africa under the auspices of ITTF Development and Education Programmes”, said Ahmed El-Dawlatly, the Development Officer of the African Table Tennis Federation. “One thing to say after seeing all those talented young players competing together is that your countries should be proud of you, you are all winners!”

Registration for ITTF Hopes Week
A special meeting is scheduled for Friday 26th April 2016 to make sure that the participating register their Hopes players on the ITTF website.

We look forward to the ITTF Hopes Week and Challenge at the Werner Schlager Academy.

Players and coaches with Peter Karlsson at the Maadi Olympic Centre in CairoPhoto courtesy of Ahmed El-Dawlatly